Regents Examinations Are Fair and Needed

Published: March 21, 1999

In ''Putting Regents Exams to the Test'' [Opinion, March 14] Fredric Cohen argues that the new Regents standards cannot measure work ethic and other crucial factors in workplace performance. While work ethic is necessary for future success, it is not sufficient. The ability to learn and put that learning to use is required, even granting that academic achievement is not a guarantee of success, nor the lack thereof an implication of failure. Examinations are the only methods to characterize abilities.

Requiring today's students to perform to equivalent standards is not the placement of an onerous or irrational burden. Rather it reaffirms the need for a well-rounded education, impresses the value of achievement gained from hard work and study and validates to the entire community the meaning and worth of a high school diploma.